Thursday July 23, 2020
Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today
The Korea Post (http://www.koreapost.com/)
‘Korean New Deal will shift Seoul-centered national development to local areas’
Today’s gathering has been convened a bit early because the Cabinet members are scheduled to go to the National Assembly. The Korean New Deal initiative contains our determination to shift the metropolitan Seoul-centered axis of national development to local areas. In the short term, it will serve as a stepping stone for recovery in local economies and play a role in further promoting balanced national development in the mid to long term.
“Green New Deal is an initiative to leap from a carbon-dependent economy to a low-carbon one”
Fellow Koreans and residents of Buan, Gochang and Jeollabuk-do Province,
Whenever I visit Jeollabuk-do, I come to admire its beautiful and lush nature. Now, it’s all the more refreshing with a view of the wind farm off the province’s southwestern shore from a ship in the middle of the sea.
Following the presentation of the Korean New Deal Initiative – the declaration of the Republic of Korea’s great transition– I’ve taken the first relevant steps here in Buan and Gochang, Jeollabuk-do. Joined by Jeollabuk-do residents, I find it truly meaningful to have this opportunity to introduce our people to offshore wind energy – the key to green energy.
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
Opposition Seeks to Highlight Unification Chief Nominee's Pro-N. Korea Record
Anchor: At his parliamentary confirmation hearing Thursday, Unification Minister-nominee Lee In-young stressed that inter-Korean ties should move forward even amid strained Washington-Pyongyang relations. However, before examining his vision and plans, opposition lawmakers sought to make sure the nominee had given up the pro-North Korea inclinations of his student activist days in the 80s. Kim Bum-soo has more.
Report: Rep. Thae Yong-ho: "Are you still a follower of [North Korea's] Juche ideology? Is it hard to honestly tell the public if you have discarded the ideology?"
Rep. Lee In-young: "I was not a follower of the Juche ideology even then and I do not believe in that idea now."
Unification Minister-nominee Rep. Lee In-young led the National College Students' Council, an association of student activists regarded by many as pro-North Korea, in the 1980s.
Daily Increase of COVID-19 Close to 60 amid Clusters in Capital Area, Gwangju
The daily increase of COVID-19 infections surged close to 60 on Thursday, as clusters spread in the Seoul metropolitan area and southwestern city of Gwangju.
The Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters said as of 12:00 a.m. Thursday, 59 additional people tested positive for the virus, raising the accumulated total to 13-thousand-938.
Thirty-nine of the new cases were local infections, the highest since 43 were reported on July 5.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
New virus cases hover around 60; local infections at almost 3-week high
South Korea's new daily virus cases stayed around 60 for the second straight day on Thursday as locally-transmitted cases spiked due to cluster infections traced to a military unit and nursing homes, with imported cases showing no sign of a letup.
The country identified 59 new cases, raising the total caseload to 13,938, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Of the newly added cases, 39 were local infections, the highest in 18 days.
New virus cases jumped to 63 on Wednesday after falling below 30 for the first time in more than three weeks on Monday.
Hundreds of soldiers tested for virus after contact with counselor linked to Army unit cluster infection
Hundreds of soldiers took coronavirus tests after coming into contact with an outside counselor confirmed to have the virus, officials said Thursday, following revelations he visited other military units in addition to a front-line base that reported at least 14 cases this week.
Two of the 14 at the Army unit in Pocheon, some 45 kilometers north of Seoul, first tested positive Tuesday after showing COVID-19 symptoms the previous day, and the remaining 12 were found to have the virus after contact with the two colleagues.
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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)
S. Korean economy suffers worst contraction since 1998 crisis
The economy shrank 3.3 percent in the second quarter of the year, its worst performance since the Asian financial crisis in 1998, as exports bore the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday.
The global spread of the novel coronavirus led to strong downward pressure on the export-driven economy between April and June. Private consumption achieved a slight rebound, but it was insufficient to offset the poor exports, the central bank said. Exports make up roughly half of the nation's GDP.
Fan base for Korean culture continues to expand on COVID-19, Netflix
Culture is an integral part of a country's soft power, and can sometimes exercise greater influence on other people than so-called hard power, such as economic superiority and official diplomacy.
This idea is well illustrated in the recent resurgence of hallyu or the Korean wave in Japan, with Korean pop culture once again sweeping Japanese people off their feet despite diplomatic feuds between the two neighboring countries over historical and trade issues.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
S. Korean’s unification minister nominee says joint exercises with US should be delayed
Lee In-young, who has been nominated as South Korea’s Unification Minister, said he thinks South Korea-US joint military exercises scheduled for August should be delayed.
Lee made the remark in a brief press conference, which lasted only 14 minutes, in front of the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue in Seoul’s Jongno District on the morning of July 21. The nominee qualified the remarks as representing his “personal position.”
S. Korean unification ministry rejects UNC request to use Freedom House for armistice agreement anniversary
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) rejected a request by the United Nations Command (UNC) to use Freedom House, a building in Panmunjom, for an event commemorating the 67th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement.
“We turned down a request by the UN Command to use Freedom House,” a Unification Ministry official told reporters on July 21.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
New Sejong Initiative Jacks up Property Values
The ruling party's renewed push to make the city of Sejong the administrative capital has sent property values there soaring.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's database on Wednesday, the price of an 85 sq.m apartment in an upscale part of Sejong City surged from W720 million in late October of last year to W915 million on June 8 (US$1=W1,198). It then jumped to W1.1 billion after Minjoo Party floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon on Monday mentioned the need to relocate the main seat of government to Sejong.
Seoul City Staff 'Ignored Complaints of Mayor's Accuser'
The ex-secretary of late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Wednesday that her complaints of sexual harassment by Park and repeated requests for a transfer fell on deaf ears over four years.
The accuser's statement was read to reporters by her lawyer Kim Jae-ryon in a follow-up press conference on Wednesday after she first came forward a week ago.
The woman "mentioned the sexual harassment to some 20 city officials including human resource staff, and showed inappropriate text messages and explicit photos by the mayor to a coworker," the lawyer said.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
U.S. Strategic Command accompanies B-1B’s Guam deployment operation
It has been reported that Strategic Command Charles Richard who is practically in charge of the U.S.’s nuclear weapon operation attended the Guam deployment operation of B-1B strategic bombers, which are also known as the “swan of death.”
It is unusual for the U.S. Strategic Command who is in charge of nuclear weapon operation strategy, including “three major nuclear capabilities” of intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers, and nuclear-powered submarines, to appear on the site of operation, following the South China Sea military training that mobilized a number of aircraft carriers and bombers. It is a red card to China’s expansion in Northeast Asia and an indirect warning against North Korea with persistent nuclear threats.
Samsung pays out 35.4 billion won in incentives to suppliers
Samsung Electronics announced on Wednesday that it will be paying out a total of 36.53 billion won of incentives to employees at leading semiconductor suppliers for the first half of the year. It will be the largest of its kind paid out for the first half of a year. The company hopes that the incentives will help boost the domestic economy, which has been struggling due to COVID-19.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
Lee In-young, “We Need to Overcome Sanctions on North Korea with New Creative Ideas Like Bartering”
On July 21, Minister of Unification nominee Lee In-young (56) said he would promote an independent policy on North Korea involving humanitarian exchanges with the North. He said he would overcome sanctions on North Korea through “small trade,” bartering South Korean rice and drugs for North Korean water and liquor. His intention was to build the drive for improvements in inter-Korean relations by starting with the humanitarian field, which has little risk of violating the sanctions.
Another Five People Dead in Fire at a Logistics Center in Yongin. It Hasn’t Been That Long Since the Tragedy in Icheon
On July 21, a big fire broke out at the SLC Logistics Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, killing five workers and injuring 8. This happened only 83 days after the fire at a construction site of a logistics center in Icheon, which resulted in 38 deaths on April 29. A similar accident occurred again in less than three months. It is devastating to see how much longer workers must helplessly suffer accidents that take their precious lives.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Korea’s GDP falls 3.3% on qtr, 2.9% on yr Q2, flagging deeper-than-expected recession
The South Korean economy sank deeper than expected in the second quarter, declining 3.3 percent from the previous quarter and also nearly 3 percent from a year ago, as the worst pandemic in modern times took a heavy toll on global and domestic demand.
The gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 3.3 percent on quarter in April-June period on the back of 1.3 percent fall in the first three months to put Asia’s fourth largest economy in a technical recession, preliminary data from the Bank of Korea showed Thursday. Against a year ago, it was down 2.9 percent.
SK Hynix ends H1 better than expected, keeps capex conservative on chip downcycle
SK Hynix Inc. will stay “conservative” in its expansion plans despite weathering the pandemic-battered first half better than expected as it sees prices of its mainstay memory chips to weaken in the second half.
Capex plans for this year are likely to be “more conservative than the earlier guidance,” with next year`s spending increase to also be limited, Cha Jin-seok, chief financial officer of SK Hynix, said in a conference call after its second-quarter earnings report on Thursday.
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What’s ticking around the world at this second?
See what the world media around the world have to report:
USA Today www.usatoday.com aallman@gannett.com
The New York Times www.nytimes.com inytletters@nytimes.com
Wall Street Journal www.wsj.com support@wsj.com, service@wsj-asia.com
Financial Times www.ft.com ean@ft.com
The Times www.thetimes.co.uk help@timesplus.co.uk
The Sun www.thesun.co.uk talkback@the-sun.co.uk
Chinese People's Daily www.people.com.cn kf@people.cn
China Daily www.chinadaily.com.cn circulation@chinadaily.com.cn
GwangmyeongDaily www.gmw.cn webmaster@gmw.cn
Japan's Yomiuri www.yomiuri.co.jp japannews@yomiuri.com
Asahi www.asahi.com customer-support@asahi.com
Mainichi www.mainichi.jp
Le Monde www.ilemonde.com
Italy LaRepubblica www.quotidiano.repubblica.it vittorio.zucconi@gmail.com
Germany Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung www.faz.net anzeigen.ausland@faz.de
SüddeutscheZeitung www.sueddeutsche.de forum@sueddeutsche.de
AustraliaBrisbaneTime www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald www.smh.com.au
Colombia Reports http://www.colombiareports.com
BogotaFree Planet http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com bfp@bogotafreeplanet.com
El Universal https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english
Andes https://www.redaktionstest.net/andes-info-ec/
Ecuador Times https://www.ecuadortimes.net/
The Jordan Times https://www.jordantimes.com/
LSM.lv https://www.lsm.lv//
The Baltic Times http://www.baltictimes.com, lithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com
El Pais https://english.elpais.com/
Philippine Daily Inquirer https://www.inquirer.net/
Daily News Hungary https://dailynewshungary.com/
Budapest Times https://www.budapesttimes.hu/
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The Korea Post is running video clips from the different embassies.
Azerbaijan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8CBpcQ4WM
Sri Lanka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByX92Y2aGY&t=22s
Morocco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfFmp2sVvSE
And many other countries.
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